In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

WELCOME to TRUTH ... not TASERS

Friday, September 19, 2008

“There is a palpable concern in the medical examiner environment that people don’t want to get sued." - Jeffrey Jentzen, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners

"Taser International is quick to challenge those who suggest Taser use can be fatal. It may be perceived by certain medical examiners as being intimidation” - Jeffrey Jentzen, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners

“Yes, I’m aware of the lawsuits. I think we all are.” - Dr. Vernard Adams, Hillsborough County Chief Medical Examiner

September 19, 2008By Rebecca Catalanello, St. Petersburg Times

TAMPA — No one knows now why Roney Wilson died. But among those waiting for a medical examiner report will be the Arizona company Taser International.

A Hillsborough deputy deployed a 1,200-volt Taser stun gun three times last week on 46-year-old Wilson, whose brother had called 911, worried that Wilson was off his medication and having a mental breakdown.

His family thinks he died because he was shocked with a Taser.

Concerns about the Taser’s effects have dogged the stun gun for years, fed by incidents like this one. But Taser International has proven itself a masterful deflector of such complaints, vigorously fending off product liability lawsuits and even challenging the findings of medical examiners who cite the weapon as a contributing cause of death.

“There is a palpable concern in the medical examiner environment that people don’t want to get sued,” said Jeffrey Jentzen, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.

In all, studies put the number of post-Taser deaths at about 300 since 1999. That compares with 606,000 total deployments on suspects and 758,000 on volunteers, according to the company. Tasers are used by 13,000 law enforcement agencies and widely accepted for officers seeking an alternative to bullets.

In the five years since Hillsborough County first equipped deputies, Sheriff’s Office data show the agency has deployed Tasers 725 times.

Wilson’s Sept. 11 death in Plant City marked the second time someone died after being shocked by a Hillsborough patrol deputy, sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

A medical examiner ruled the first death, in 2004, accidental, caused by cocaine-induced “agitated delirium,” which is similar to “excited delirium,” a term frequently associated with Taser-involved deaths. Wilson’s case is still under review.

A father of three, Wilson was diagnosed as bipolar and had high blood pressure, said brother Jessie Wilson, who called 911 seeking emergency medical attention after Roney Wilson climbed in his mother’s truck, shattered the windshield with his fist and refused to budge.

Now the family is seeking an attorney. “They done killed him,” Jessie Wilson said.

• • •

Taser International forcefully challenges any suggestion the guns cause death. The company cites studies that indicate the Taser is effective and safe.

The American Medical Association isn’t so sure. The organization in June called for further study on the use of Tasers, noting concerns about their effects on people with mental illness.

A broadly worded Taser warning label cautions users of the potentially fatal risks of self-defense and use of force.

Jentzen, head of the National Medical Examiners Association, notes that Taser International is quick to challenge those who suggest Taser use can be fatal.

“It may be perceived by certain medical examiners as being intimidation,” Jentzen said.

The company has taken legal action against two medical examiners who — in either public statements or in an autopsy report — said the weapon had contributed to deaths.

In Summit County, Ohio, a judge ordered Chief Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler to strike the Taser’s mention from three autopsy reports after the company requested a legal review of the coroner’s findings. Kohler is appealing.

“We have held and will continue to hold medical examiners responsible for any untrue statements,” Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said. The company strives to inform coroners about the research involving Taser, he said.

“Yes, I’m aware of the lawsuits,” Adams said in a followup interview. “I think we all are.”

But Adams said he’s not concerned. “I’m represented by the county attorney,” he said. “If Taser wants to sue me, it’s going to cost them money. I’m free to do what the statute tells me to do, which is determine the cause of death — not a cause of death.”

• • •

In Sheriff’s Office language, the Taser is considered a “less lethal” weapon. It’s hard to imagine any law enforcement officer using a Taser intending to kill. But Pinellas Park lawyer Joseph Saunders said the Taser’s safety is “overpromoted.”

Saunders is suing Taser International on behalf of a woman widowed by a man stunned by Polk County authorities in 2004.

In that case, the responding deputy was trying to help a man off a roadway who appeared to be hallucinating. He attacked her and she deployed her Taser to try to subdue and restrain him. “This police officer didn’t mean to kill the guy,” Saunders said.

The Hillsborough deputy who used the Taser against Roney Wilson was a former English teacher described by references in her personnel file as “considerate,” “even-tempered” and having an “outstanding work ethic.”

Deputy Mary Angelo, who is married to St. Petersburg Times news researcher John Martin, has been with the agency less than two years without disciplinary action. The Sheriff’s Office said she initially deployed the Taser when Wilson struggled as another deputy tried to physically remove him from the truck.

Lt. Kyle Cockream, who trained Hillsborough deputies in proper Taser use after the agency first began using them on a trial basis, said deputies are taught to recognize signs of “excited delirium.” However, nothing in their training bars them from still using the Taser if a situation warrants it, he said.

“Excited delirium” describes a physical response that some in the medical field say can by itself cause sudden death. Experts sometimes associate it with drug use and mental illness.

Symptoms include, according to a Canadian Medical Association Journal article from March, agitation, elevated heart rate, incoherence, bizarre behavior, a high tolerance for pain and a compulsion to break glass.

But skeptics at civil liberties groups like Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union challenge whether the condition is real.

According to the CMAJ article, those who die of excited delirium are usually in police custody.

• • •

This summer, Taser International suffered its first major legal blow since its 1993 founding. A California jury ordered the company to pay more than $6-million to the family of a man who died in 2005 after he was stunned five times by police. The company requested a new trial.

Taser has had 74 product liability lawsuits dismissed and is currently named as a defendant in 38 wrongful death or personal injury cases, the company says. Asked about Wilson’s death last week, Taser spokesman Tuttle sent an e-mail response:

“Until all the facts surrounding this tragic incident are known,” he wrote, “it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions."

1 comment:

The taser is at least several orders of magnitude more dangerous than they admit. They claim the safety is essentially perfect with respect to internal risk factors. It isn't. The results from the streets are so clear that not many people are still buying Taser's propaganda. It's really about time for more lawsuits to stick.

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taser-Related Deaths = 997+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to Amnesty International, the taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in at least 60 of them. That number would be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

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Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

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My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

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2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

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80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."